Disadvantages of Linguistic Origin - Evidence from Immigrant Literacy Scores

Isphording, Ingo E.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2221277

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Through our estimation of the determinants of literacy, we also share common ground with the emerging literature on the effects of linguistic origin and linguistic distance on the acquisition of the destination language. In line with what we find in our literacy equations, Isphording and Otten (2014) and Isphording (2014) show that migrants with a greater linguistic distance between destination language and their native language are at a disadvantage.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Literacy and the Migrant–Native Wage Gap

Himmler

Jaeckle

2017

Review of Income and Wealth

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Being able to read and write is one of the most important skills in modern economies. Literacy frequently is a prerequisite for employment and its relevance for productivity and wages is magnified by the fact that it is only through literacy that many other skills become usable. More so than for natives, this argument applies to migrants: even those with high levels of human capital acquired in the country of origin often have it rendered worthless by the absence of literacy in the host country language. Using novel data from a large-scale German adult literacy test (leo -level-one study), we investigate the determinants of literacy and show that migrants have systematically lower language skills than natives. We find that any observed raw employment and wage gaps between natives and migrants can be fully explained by these differences.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Literacy and the Migrant–Native Wage Gap

Himmler

Jaeckle

2017

Review of Income and Wealth

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“…Evidence from international literacy test scores indicates that foreignlanguage speaking immigrants arriving at a young age have lower initial test score gaps by about half a standard deviation in literacy compared with native-language speaking immigrants. This effect increases to about a full standard deviation for immigrants who arrive after the critical period for language acquisition in early adolescence [3]. Figure 1 depicts this relationship between linguistic distance and language proficiency (as measured by literacy scores of first-generation immigrants in the International Adult Literacy Study) at young and older ages.…”

Section: World Of Labormentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Approaches draw from linguistic research on differences among languages, or they deduce linguistic distances from the average effort of foreign language students who share a common native language to reach certain proficiency levels. A strong relationship between linguistic distance and achieved levels of language proficiency has been documented using German, American [3], and Canadian microdata [2] and results on international tests [4].…”

Section: Ability and Efficiency In Learning A New Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

Back to Articles What drives the language proficiency of immigrants?

Isphording¹

2015

izawol

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte.

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“…Moreover, in relation to educational performance, command of the relevant national language is a critical resource in promoting an individual's integration. In this sense, non-natives are likely to be at a disadvantage, a circumstance that varies depending on linguistic distance, exposure to the host country's language and their date of arrival in the country (Isphording, 2014). which skills are related to family background.…”

Section: Foreign Born and Home Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling adult skills in OECD countries

Scandurra

Calero

2017

British Educational Res J

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The IEB research group in Human Capital aims at promoting research in the Economics of Education. The main objective of this group is to foster research related to the education and training of individuals and to promote the analysis of education systems and policies from an economic perspective. Some topics are particularly relevant: Evaluation of education and training policies; monetary and non-monetary effects of education; analysis of the international assessments of the skills of the young (PISA, PIRLS, TIMMS) and adult populations (PIAAC, IALS); education and equality, considering the inclusion of the disabled in the education system; and lifelong learning. This group puts special emphasis on applied research and on work that sheds light on policy-design issues. Moreover, research focused in Spain is given special consideration. Disseminating research findings to a broader audience is also an aim of the group. This research group enjoys the support from the IEB-Foundation.The Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB) is a research centre at the University of Barcelona (UB) which specializes in the field of applied economics. The IEB is a foundation funded by the following institutions: Applus, Abertis, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Diputació de Barcelona, Gas Natural, La Caixa and Universitat de Barcelona. The IEB working papers represent ongoing research that is circulated to encourage discussion and has not undergone a peer review process. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IEB. IEB Working Paper 2016/17 MODELLING ADULT SKILLS IN OECD COUNTRIESRosario Ivano Scandurra and Jorge Calero ABSTRACT: Research in the social sciences has focused extensively on the relationship between family background, educational attainment and social destination, on the one hand, and on the processes of skills creation and skills use, on the other. This paper brings these two branches of the literature together by examining the correlation between a range of social factors. The methodology we adopt provides a comprehensive approach to the study of the channels through which literacy skills are acquired, taking into account the interrelation of family background, educational attainment, and the use of skills at work and at home. We use the Programme of International Assessment of Adult Competences (PIAAC) dataset and apply a structural equation model (SEM). Our results show that family background and education play an important role in the configuration of adult skills and skill practices. Unequal family access to resources has a strong impact at later stages in life and strongly affects educational attainment and skills outcomes. Additionally, skills use has a positive and direct impact on adult skills. JEL Codes: I2, I24

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Disadvantages of Linguistic Origin - Evidence from Immigrant Literacy Scores

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

Literacy and the Migrant–Native Wage Gap

Literacy and the Migrant–Native Wage Gap

Back to Articles What drives the language proficiency of immigrants?

Modelling adult skills in OECD countries

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